Question of the Week: 12 - 10/23/2000Pagan Choice for the y2k US ElectionThis week's Pagan Perspective question is a redux of one that we asked about at the beginning of August... And we apologize in advance to our non-United States readers that we have again brought up an issue that is rather exclusive to just one country, but feel free to comment on the shenanigans of the American political system as you see it.) Which political platform or candidate are you leaning towards? Have you made up your mind or changed your mind? Will you vote and who-if you don't mind telling the world-are you planning to vote for? Why have you made this particular choice?

I have voted for Ralph Nader on my mail in ballot. I could not feel good about voting for Gore and Bush was out of the question. Gore is dishonest and is just as indebted to the large corporations as Bush. I really care about our environment and don't feel that either Gore or Bush are in touch with how at risk the environment is in the new millenium. Action must be taken now to clean up our crimes against the planet and prevent further destruction. Gore is too slow in carrying out any promises and Bush is just plain destructive. They are both caught up in a power struggle based on money as the ultimate god.Nader is the only reasonable and intelligent alternative at this time and I want an alternative. If we don't set clear goals for what we want we will never get it. Not only that but we will lose what we still have. We have lost more than we have gained in my lifetime. The environment is dying and we and our children are dying with it. We take in so many poisons from the environment daily that our health is being destroyed. We can't wait to repair the damage until we study the results. There may be no one and nothing left by the end of the study.Changes must start now. My vote is to demonstrate what I want and to show I have no faith in the Democrats or the Republicans to do anything positive.

I am voting for Harry Browne of the Libertarian Party. Why? The Libertarians are the only party that truly want to get Government OUT of our personal lives and let us live the way we choose. The Libertarian philosophy recognizes that adults have minds of thier own, and should be allowed to make their own choices, and their own mistakes. The government is not there to baby-sit us, or to save us from ourselves. It has no right to make our choices for us."But, Why waste your vote on a third party candaite who has no real chance of winning?" you ask. I'll tell you: Because Voting is like magic...It is a way to effect change. We didn't let people tell us "Magic isn't real", we tried it, and it works. Voting for a third party tells the other two parties that they's better change their ways. Every vote for a third party this year gets them closer to national recognition, and closer to the office the next time they run. And hey, you never know, if enough people decide to vote for what they REALLY want this year, Harry might just make it.Remember--The Lesser of two evils is still Evil.And if you keep voting the way you've always voted, you will keep getting what you've always gotten.

It is amazing how much religion plays a role in US politics, have people not learnt from the thousands of years of human civilization??America was considered during the last two centuries to be fairly liberal amoungst nations, but definately more liberal for some citizens than for others (please remember that the slave trade went on much longer than in the British Empire which abolished the slave trade around 1815, and the US treatment of the Natives was exceptionally barbaric for the time), but as a whole the US has grown from a loosely united group of sometimes lawless colonies to a respected nation and perhaps even a force for the good.

But I don't think we Europeans realised how much a volatile topic religion has become in the US. Religion and politics is something Western nations have for the most part got out of their system over a century ago. What is now happening in the US is a step backwards, I find myself most fortunate that in Europe we have become extremely liberal with regard to social policy, mostly as Facism was a real threat that had to be militarily defeated only 55 years ago (and still lingered nearby in the for of the Soviet Union), and while the US helped the British Empire/Commonwealth and the Soviet union to defeat the Axis powers, there was no real immediate threat to the US mainland and its freedom, and as such it has never really suffered at the hands of tyranny or really been directly threathened by it. This results in a lapse of vigilance, and perhaps the establishment needs be careful that it does not take personal freedom for granted!

For Europe the result is that there are many safeguards to protect citizens rights, things are not perfect but the laws are there and they are observed... politicans are not elected to interpret the law, that is not their job, the House of Lords/ Supreme court is there to interpret the law.

In conclusion, don't be trampeled by your president, he is there to represent you even if you don't vote for him. He is head of state, and as such is responcible for each and every one of your citizens and their wellbeing... he's not there to help just his friends and supporters.

I lean towards Libertarian but am a realist who worries about our future. Consider me wierd (at least at first glance) but I will vote Bush/Cheney. I wish to live out my life as a free Witch and see a country which will allow my children and grandchildren to do the same. I don't want more government, nor more taxes nor any more prevarications or distortions of the truth, which we have endured for the past 8 years. I am self-employed and see 46% of my money going to the federal government, plus another chuck to state and local. I have seen too many of my precious constitutional rights evaporate, especially the right to defend myself, family and property. Does this sound red-neck? Think about what our founding fathers guaranteed us, including the right to worship as we wish. then think about how those rights have been eroded of late.So, I'll vote for the lesser of the evils.

The Choice Is Painfully Obvious. Al Gore Is The Only Canidate. Fom...

Oct 27th. at 10:54:40 am UTC

Ceredice (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania US)

Age: 29

the choice is painfully obvious. Al Gore is the only canidate. Fom my research I have found that he intends to uphold our right of free religious belief, a woman's right to choose (abortion issue)and to maintain the more recent policies such as Pagan relegions accepted in the millitary and allowing pagans to acknowledge their holidays as acceptable time off from work and/or school. These views are a far cry from Bush who does not acknowledge my religion, hinders my gender and has been qouted as saying that he will revoke the current military policy concerning religion. By the Goddess and as a proud American I can not allow George W. Bush to take the office of President! Please, all of you, even if you have never voted prior to this election, do so now, our religion, our way of life is at stake. Blessed Be to all and a very happy Samhain. Ceredice, 3rd degree Wiccan

If Gore doesn't win we are all in serious trouble. OK, I have been reading these articles daily and as much as I wish there was a third candidate to vote for....there isn't..

This election is about two and only two candidates, Gore and Bush. By not voting for Gore is another vote for Bush, and if Bush wins the election our religious freedom and rights are seriously threatened.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Right now a 15 year old girl in Oklahoma (see wren's nest for the news story) has been accused of casting a spell on her teacher and making him ill. She is being humiliated by her peers and the school suspended her. The ACLU of Oklahoma is taking up her rights and they are preparing to go to court and I hope that girl, her father, and the ACLU go after that school for no less than six figures. Someone forgot to tell those school officials that it's the year 2000 and to join the 21st century like the rest of us.

Have I got your attention yet?

How's this, right now that child's religious freedom is protected by the 1st Amendment. BUT, what do you think is going to happen to her rights, as well as ours, if Bush, who openly stated that WICCA IS NOT A RELIGION and he plans on BANNING IT FROM MILITARY BASES gets into office? Do we really want a religious bigot in the White House? This election is getting serious and we are running out of time. Nov. 7 is just around the corner. This election has gone from abortion, health, social security, and defense issues to an election that will determine our religious freedom and rights (or the lack there of) for the next 4 years.

I wish there was a candidate that stood a solid chance of winning that supported religious freedom, personal rights, etc., for that matter I wish a Witch was a presidental candidate, the problem is there are only two candidates and that's what we are stuck with.

So there you have it. It's the year 2000, a child is accused of hexing her teacher and has to go court to defend herself, a presidential candidate (Bush) doesn't believe Wicca or any other Pagan religion is a religion, and we don't have a third candidate to vote for that we would all like to see win.

Please note that this is just my opinion, I am in no way telling you what you have to do, it's just that after reading Bush's comments about Wicca and now after reading about a child having to go to court to protect her reputation and rights I really got ticked off and started to seriously wonder where this country is heading.

May the Goddess&God protect and watch over us all in these turbulent times.Blessed Be...

I'm choosing Al Gore. Not because of all the stuff in his campaign but because he's been doing the things that are important. The smoke-and-mirrors campaign noises don't cause me to lose sight of the fact that he *knows* and has said so in print (his book) that a carbon tax is the only way we're going to begin to reflect the *true* costs, social as well as cash, of fossil fuel energy sources. It's not popular, you won't hear about it in the campaign, but Al Gore *gets* it; "it's the environment, stupid."

Bush's spin-doctors are hammering home a lie -- that Gore is in favor of "big government" in hopes that we'll all forget facts: the first thing Al Gore did during his first term as VP was to examine the U.S. federal bureaucracy for where to cut. I'm quite sure he knows what didn't get cut for one reason or another.

Al Gore is smart enough to know that the ozone hole is a huge warning sign. He's informed enough to know that our health care system costs more and provides less than any other industrial nation, per capita. And he's politically savvy enough to campaign on the necssarily dumbed-down content that's all the average media maven with a microphone will record.

I've been waiting for my chance to vote for Al Gore for president since 1992, and I haven't changed my mind. I don't think he's gone the route of Redford's old flick "The Candidate"...I think he's biding his time to make his mark. Unfortunately, sometimes one must "make haste slowly" in politics.

Also, frankly, I watched what happened to this country under Reagan & Bush. Remove all tax incentives for non-fossil-fuel energy sources in the name of "tax simplification". Cut funding for mental health programs (Reagan did it in CA first, so I got to watch it happen for 16 years!). Multiply the costs to students in public colleges by a factor of 5. Increase logging access in the tiny expanses of the United States' few remaining untouched native forests. Run stranglehold budget crunches on national infrastructure such as the air traffic control system (it was archaic when Reagan was re-elected, and has gone on running on CP/M because MS-DOS was not acceptably reliable when it came to people's lives).

I don't think we can afford any more of that sort of mismanagement. The Republican noise-makers like to point out all that the Clinton administrations haven't accomplished. Nowhere do I see them taking responsibility for their stone-wall approach to any meaningful health care reform! I think they'll hope we're all forgetful as well as stupid.

"Nothing's forgotten. Nothing is ever forgotten."

Stop Repeat Offenders, Don't Re-elect Them." That Is One Of The Bumper...

"Stop Repeat Offenders, Don't Re-Elect Them." That is one of the bumper stickers on my car. I really don't see much of a difference between the candidates except that:

Buchannan, will probably start WWIII betweenus and Mexico.

Nadar will big government us to death.

Harry Browne is a starry eyed idealist without too much experiance in dealing with two faced burrocraps and congressmen. He will be crushed by the weight of the reality of government life.

George Bush; Remember Wicca is not a real religion? He wouldn't believe my sister got crushed by that house if he saw it happen!

That leaves Gore the bore who gets my vote, not because I think he's better but because he is the lesser of all the evils.

Sorta makes you believe in Saten.

I'm Voting For Al Gore, For Endless Reasons Most Of Which Don't...

Oct 27th. at 1:35:38 pm UTC

Eli (Fort Lauderdale, Florida US)

Age: 18

I'm voting for Al Gore, for endless reasons most of which don't relate at all to paganism or even to myself. I am a man, but the most important issue in the whole election, for me, is the protection of Roe vs. Wade, which is one or two votes from being overturned with possibly up to three or four Supreme Court nominations up for grabs in this election. But as a pagan, my largest reason for disliking George W.-not that I don't already have an abundance of reasons-is because I know he and his conservative buddies would give unfair benefits and authority to Christian churches, schools, hospitals, and charities. And I think we all know what happens when you give the church too much political authority.

Since the beginning of the campaign trail I thought I would be voting for Al Gore. His comitment to the environment has always made me respect him. Yet, I am also a supporter of the military. When I found that his idea of Military Spending was to send our troops into more international situations and NOT work to upgrade our domestic military bases I began to reconsider. I've been going over this issue in my mind for weeks now, Bush says he wants to upgrade our bases including family housing and support buildings, but Bush also ignores the fact that witchcraft is actually a religion. That makes me nervous. All in all, after a lot of research I've found that while I do not agree with Gore's idea of military spending, I agree with his stand on most all other issues. When it's time to vote, my vote will go to Al Gore.

Gop Group To Air Pro-nader Tv Ads By Laura Meckler, Associated Press...

Oct 27th. at 4:42:03 pm UTC

Andraste (New York, New York US)

Age: 35

GOP Group To Air Pro-Nader TV Ads

By LAURA MECKLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Hoping to boost Ralph Nader (news - web sites) in states where he is

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